A B.C. radio station is reporting today that police have arrested a double-murderer and rapist from Ontario who walked away from Ferndale minimum-security prison yesterday morning.

A B.C. radio station is reporting today that police have arrested a double-murderer and rapist from Ontario who walked away from Ferndale minimum-security prison yesterday morning.

Peter John Peters, who was serving a life sentence for a chilling crime spree 17 years ago in Ontario, was arrested in Matsqui Village just before 6 o'clock this morning, NEWS 1130 reports.

No one at the RCMP detachment in Mission, B.C. was available to confirm the report.

Peters killed two people and nearly killed a third person during a five-day crime spree across Ontario in 1990. Peters was sentenced to life in prison almost 17 years ago.

Despite his sentence, Peters has already been out on escorted day passes and recently changed his name to John Cody as he prepared to ask the National Parole Board for his freedom this spring.

Walking away from Ferndale means his chances for parole will be extremely slim, said Toronto police Staff Sgt. Ralph Brookes, who originally arrested Peters.

"Why he did this makes no sense," said Brookes, who described Peters as very dangerous, especially to women.

Peters pleaded guilty in 1991 to two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Charlene Brittain, 25, of London and Toronto janitor Albert Philip, 63. He was also convicted of rape and the attempted murder of Sandie Bellows of St. Catharines.

Even before his escape, his parole application was questioned by police and his victims.

"This is an offender who has been incarcerated throughout his life and each time he has been able to manipulate the system," said Brookes. "We knew that he was to serve 17 years (before parole eligibility) but we didn't think anybody would realistically consider an application to release him."

Back then, he was a 28-year-old labourer from London — a good-looking man with boy-next-door features, similar to those of schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo. But unlike Bernardo, whose name continues to make headlines 14 years after his capture, Peters has faded from memory as he quietly served out his sentence in a B.C. jail cell.

Bellows was attacked a day after Peters bludgeoned Philip to death in the garage of a building in downtown Toronto.

Police would discover that Philip was actually the second murder victim in Peters' crime spree. Two days before, he strangled his friend, Brittain, in her apartment.

After these attacks, Peters headed to Paris, Ont., where he robbed a bank for $2,000. He also tried to abduct a 15-year-old girl while on the run.

Canada's most wanted man at the time was finally captured at a roadblock in Sault Ste. Marie.

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